Wool scouring process and compositions



Fatented Feb, to, Wed

asoaoss WWYPL SEO i: ll G PRGCESS AND Samuel T. Woodside, @hicago, 11].,assiznor, by

means assients, to Lucson Qorporation, Chicase, at, a corporation oiminois No Drawing, Application September 1, 1939,

Serial No. 293,051

a one. (cease-12?) My invention relates to improvements in wool scouringcompositions and method oi scouring wool and has for one object toprovide a composition. the use oi which will result in decreasedinvolves the treatment of the wool in a series of baths, the first onecontaining soap and soda ash in solution at relatively lowconcentration, the next bath containing soap and soda ash in solution atrelatively high concentration.

For example, the alkalinity in the first bath in the second bath willpreferably be approximately 1.25 by weight of the amount of water usedin the scouring bath. The wool is first treated in the bath withrelatively low alkalinity, then with relatively high. a The third bathis a rinse of water to remove the soap and the fourth bath is a bluingbath in which the wool is treated with bluing similar to or perhapsidentical with ordinary laundry bluing.

The causticity or alkalinity of the soda ash bath is such that the woolfibers or the outer surfaces of the wool fibers or part of the outersurfaces of Y the wool fibers tend to be dissolved so that the actualweight and volume of wool fiber itself is somewhat reduced by thetreatment above out lined. Moreover, the outer fine soft fiber cover-=ing tends to be eaten away leaving a relatively harder under surface ofthe fiber exposed. Thus, as a result of the treatment above outlined,the wool tends to be harsh, and wiry, thus giving a wool which spun intothread is somewhat weaker the same purpose. An efiort has been made touse pine oil in this connection but again the pine oil, while it wouldclean the wool, left the wool with an unpleasantsmell which stayed withit to the end of its life.

I have found that when there is added to the caustic soda ash and soapbaths above referred to, kerosene and pine oil in approximately equalquantities or perhaps with a slight excess of kerosene, then it ispossible to materially reduce the alkalinity of the bath, accomplish thescour in: result and obtain a satisfactory merchantable will preferablybe approximately .9, the alkalinity than the thread woven of the woolnot so treated. 1

Moreover, the cloth woven-oi such wool, because of the smooth characteroi the fibers tends to shine more rapidly and to be less resistant towear.

It has been proposed in the past to obviate the diflicultiesabove'pointed out by adding to the soda ash soap bath, other materials.Kerosene for instance has been used in the hope that this 'a bath oilower caustlcity, it leaves a character istic ofiensive smell whichmakes the wool relatively unsalablel It has also been proposed to usepine oil for product because the combination of kerosene and pine 011'results in a substantially non-odorous condition. In other words, thekerosene and pine .oil cancel out each other's smell or neutralize therespective odors so that there is not added to the wool any extrinsicodor or smell characteristic of either kerosene or pine oil.

Preferably my composition of kerosene and pine oil will be assembled inadvance ior use by wool scourers. A suitable formula will be 51.5percent kerosene; 48.47 percent pine oil; and .02 percent oil ofbergamot. The oil of bergamot is introduced for the purpose of giving acharacteristic pleasant odor to the compound and may, it de sired, bedispensed with, in which case the proportion of pine oil would beincreased accordingly.

In carrying out my process I propose for en= ample, to provide the firstbath of soap and soda ash having an alkalinity of approximately .4 percent. To the first bath my pine oil and kerosene composition will beadded in the proportion of three and one-half gallons to one thousandgallons of water. In the second bath, my composition will be added inthe proportion of live and five-eighths gallons to one thousand gallonsof water,

The pine oil and kerosene will thus be premixed before being added tothe bath and the soda ash and soap will be mixed in the bath be= i'oremy composition is added.

The presence of the kerosene and pine oil does not change or interferein any way with the alkalinity of the bath so that in makingdeterminations of causticity the contents of the bath may be titratedindependent of the presence of kerosene and pine oil. The reducedcausticity or alkalinity of the two baths resultsin a decrease in theshrinkage of the wool and a decrease in the extent to which the woolfibers are eaten away.

The practice of using first a bath oi relativel low alkalinity, second abath of relatively higher valkalinity will be carried out in connectionwith my process just as in the past because experience teaches that tofirst introduce the wool into a bath of too high alkalinity sometimestends to fix deleterious color in the wool.

I have referred specifically in the specification and in the claims tokerosene and pine oil because they are suitable examples of a relativelywide range of materials which may be used in combination and cooperationto accomplish my pur pose. The pine oil is preferably pine oil, theboiling point of which ranges from 417 to 437 Fahrenheit, the fiashpoint of which is high enough so that the oil can be shipped withoutspecial precaution, and which is steam distilled pine oil asdistinguished from pine oil derived by destructive distillation. Thekerosene must be a colorless or substantially colorless fluid because ifit contains color or coloring matter in any appreciable quantity it willtend to color the wool.

By kerosene therefore, I mean such distillates of crude petroleum ofcoal and of synthetic products made of natural gases and alsoderivatives of all these products as will be colorless or substantiallycolorless and be of the general specific gravity range characteristic ofcommercial kerosene or derivatives thereof.

In other words, such a product can be a petroleum product or distillatethereof containing sulphurous compounds in general and specifical- 1ynaphthenic acids and without the same if desired.

By industrial pine oil I mean, as above referred to, the better gradesof pine oil, resin oils or turpentine oils, crude and refined or resinand pine distillates containing abietic acid or oils distilled fromresins, balsams and gums or volatile or distilled oils of plants andleaves or terpene oils, camphors and camphor oils.

The terms kerosene and pine oil in my claims are intended to mean and tocovernot only kerosene and pine oil but such similar and equivalentchemicals and derivatives as those above listed and described and I wishthat the claims where they refer to pine oil and kerosene be interpretedas covering broadly-such reagents.

Resin oils, pine oils and turpentines cannot be exactly defined becausetheir specific chemical constituents varies from distillation todistillation. They are, however, all of them products of thedistillation from the resin of various pine trees or are products of dryor similar distillation of pine logs.

I claim:

1. A wool scouring composition comprising substantially equalproportions of ordinary, unrefined kerosene and pine oil.

2. A wool scouring composition comprising ordinary, unrefined kerosenein the amount of approximately 51.5 percent; pine oil in the amount ofapproximately 48.47 percent.

3. A wool scouring composition comprising ordinary, unrefined kerosenein the amount of approximately 51.5 percent; pine oil in the amount ofapproximately 48.47 percent and oil of heme.- mot in the amount ofapproximately .02 per cent.

4. A wool scouring bath comprising water, soda ash and soap, thealkalinity of which is approximately four tenths percent andapproximately equal quantities of ordinary, unrefined kerosene and pineoil in the proportion of approximately three and one-half gallons ofordinary, unrefined kerosene and pine oil together to one thousandgallons of the bath.

5. A wool scouring bath comprising water, soda ash and soap, thealkalinity of which is approximately four tenths percent, andapproximately equal quantities of ordinary, unrefined kerosene and pineoil in the proportion of approximately five and five-eighths gallons ofordinary, unrefined kerosene and pine oil together to one thouof whichcontains soap and soda ash in solution in substantially the sameconcentration, each bath containing in addition ordinary, unrefinedkerosene and pine oil in'generally equal proportions, the concentrationof ordinary, unrefined kerosene and pine oil being greater in the secondbath than in the first bath, the concentration of soap and soda ash ineach solution being such that the alkalinity is approximately fourtenths percent.

8. The process of scouring wool which consists in washing the wool intwo successive baths each of which contains soap and soda ash insolution in substantiall the same concentration, each bath containing inaddition ordinary, unrefined kerosene and pine oil in generall equalproportions, the concentration of ordinary, unrefined kerosene and pineoil being greater in the second bath than in the first bath, theordinary, unrefined kerosene and pine oil in the first bath beingapproximately in the amount of three and one-half gallons to each onethousand gallons of the bath.

9. The process of scouring wool which consists in washing the wool intwo successive baths each of which contains soap and soda ash insolution in substantially the same concentration, each bath containingin addition ordinary, unrefined kerosene and pine oil in generally equalproportions, the concentration of ordinary, unrefined kerosene and pine011 being greater in the second bath than in the first bath, theordinary, unrefined kerosene and pine oil in the second bath beingapproximately in the proportion of five and five-eighths gallons to onethousand gallons of the bath.

SAMUEL T. WOODSIDE.

